The Major Works

It was in reading Wordsworth years ago that I learned that the ancient division between philosophy and poetry is a false one, and that both, rightly seen and wholeheartedly pursued, are ultimately convergent trajectories of the human spirit. Wordsworth is the quintessential philosophical poet, I think. His work best displays what contribution poetry can offer to philosophy in the search for wisdom. It was especially his Preface to his Lyrical Ballads, and some of the poems contained therein, tha [...]

Poems like "The Ruined Cottage" and "Tintern Abbey" are as close to perfect as poetry can be. Unpretentious, intellectual, and evocative. Wordsworth takes the simple and common and makes it achingly wonderful. Our sneering, eye-rolling, nod and wink post-modern sensibilities could certainly use a little more of the earnestness exhibited in these poems.

Wordsworth is one of my favourite poets and I have read many of his poems at different times. I read The Prelude 7th June 2016-18th June 2016. I enjoyed it but I would love to come back to it some time in the future and study it closely as I know I can get a lot more out of it."The Poet, gentle creature as he it,Hath, like the Lover, his unruly times,His fits when he is neither sick nor well,Though no distress be near him but his ownUnmanageable thoughts."

Oh, Wordsworth. I have read at least a little bit of the output of almost all of the great English romantics that are considered part of the traditional cannon. I enjoyed a lot of their work, but no poet of that age could ever speak to me like Wordsworth. This volume is over 1,000 pages long, so not every poem collected here is great. And the conventional criticism that later Wordsworth is not as good as young Wordsworth is certainly true. But Wordsworth's view of poetry as "a man speaking to me [...]

[Quick review from memory before I re-read and re-review at a later date](This is currently on the pile on poetry that I am aiming to read at some point, having bought this for university but probably didn't really pay much attention at the time. I'm not the biggest Wordsworth fan but I'm sure he'll have something decent within this brick of a book.)

Okay. I have a real problem with William Wordsworth, for a number of reasons.1. He's totally ripping off Charlotte Smith.2. He completely took over Lyrical Ballads with his trite sayings about daffodils, when Coleridge's poems are really what interests (me, at least) the most.3. His hypocritical turn to hardcore Anglicanism and his seeming surrender at the end of his life really bug the revolutionary Romantic in me.4. If I read "Tintern Abbey" one more time, I'm going to throw up.That being said [...]

MehhhhhhI only read the Prelude. Once again, I learned how immature and impatient I am as a reader and how I don't appreciate nice things. I wish I was grownup enough to enjoy hearing about someone wandering around and around in nature and becoming more and more self-aware. Well, no, I don't wish that, but it probably would have helped.I don't think I would have liked to have known Wordsworth. Not that there's anything wrong with him or that I dislike him on a moral level, but I feel like our pe [...]

Of course, I have no business rating Wordsworth. But he is so sad, so unrelentingly, depressingly sad, poem after poem. I suppose that in that day, he was regarded as serious, but today, to a citizen of this modern world in this country, he is not serious - he needs help. Maybe operating and writing on the verge of what we might call clinical depression was more natural then. I don't know and I have no right to guess. It's interesting, though. How many of those old characters seemed to take life [...]

Even at 28, I can understand both the joy and the longing that come from looking back on times when you have connected with nature in the past. One can only hope for more opportunities in order to build up a catalogue of such memories, so as to reflect on them all when much older and create a happiness in your imagination by revisiting them in your old age. I love the importance Wordsworth places on imagination and the role that it can take in taking control of our own state of mind and being. B [...]

William Wordsworth is a true genius. I really liked this book, even though I'm not very into romantic poetry, he really shows great talent, I've even found perfection in some of his creations.He puts all his love to nature and the countryside into such beautiful words that also are very evocative! You can feel him painting a gorgeous, pure landscape as you read poems like "Lines written a few miles above Tintern Abbey". I'd totally recommend this book.

I like Wordsworth, and most of the Victorian poets. He is lyrical and evokes the English countryside and nature. I like many, many of his poems--check them out!What though the radiance, which was once so bright,Be now forever taken from my sight,though nothing can bring back the glory of the flower,the splendor of the grass,we will grieve not,but take strength in what remains behind.A somewhat bowderlized version from my dim memory, but I couldn't resist. Look up the actual verse

Had to read this for a graduate class. Some really good passages, but I didn't truly like any of the poems as a whole. Wordsworth was simply too much into himself, and how the natural world was, or was not, in tune with Wordsworth, rather than whether Wordsworth was, or was not, in tune with the natural world. This blighted some otherwise ingenious poems.

I love Wordsworth, I really do, but his works get a bit repetitive after a while. "Lyrical Ballads" is beautiful in its depictions of life in and around the Lake District. Wordsworth often combines realism with a more supernatural element, which I enjoy. His poetry is peaceful for the most part, as well as thought-provoking. THe "Lucy poems" are my favorites!

"Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting: The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star, 60 Hath had elsewhere its setting,And cometh from afar:Not in entire forgetfulness,And not in utter nakedness, But trailing clouds of glory do we come"Ode on Intimations of Immortality

Usually I really have to like poetry to read it in my spare time although I do love studying it as you get a full grasp of the use of the language. Although I am going to study it this was one of the first times reading it before study which was new and although it did take me awhile to be able to get used it to I did begin to really enjoy this.

This is possibly written for children, but it is just as enjoyable for adults. I like the illustrations. There are also small notes of explanation for words that people might not be familiar with now. It's a wonderful overview of his poetry and there is also biographical information that I found very interesting.

3.5 stars! I read this one for school and definitely did not read all the poems, only the ones I was assigned to. Therefore it's very hard to rate and judge his entire works. I did really enjoy some of the poems, however others I thought were average or too long etc. Overall I really appreciate Wordsworth's works and his talent for Romantic poetry.

I don't love Wordsworth, but I have to admit that he was on to something here. "The Prelude" is "self" as epic subject. What a concept! And we don't seem to have ever managed to get beyond it. Too bad for the world, but Wordsworth deserves a great deal of the credit/blame.

Not specifically this edition, but any collection of Wordsworth is as necessary as breathing to anyone who enjoys poetry. I can't live without my well-worn copy of collected poems and prefaces. Also check out the journal of Dorothy Wordsworth, his sister.

In my completely biased opinion, Wordsworth is to poetry what Turner is to painting. Seemingly unconventional patriarchal figures conformist to the bone Reas Coleridge and look at William Blake's paintings dear Junge Leute

Taking a class on Wordsworth helped me gain somewhat of an appreciation for him. Still not sure I like him, though. Favorite poem is "We are Seven."(Did not read cover to cover, obviously, but I did read a good portion of it)

Reading The Excursion has been a powerful experience. To speak about the big things in a way that is mystical and then not; deliberately confusing you, so you will think and feel it for yourself.Very beautiful.

wordsworth and his love of nature make me love nature. his 'spots of time' is one of my favorite concepts ever. i sometimes measure my life out by his words. he's one of my favorite thinkers and writers

It was an excellent collection. I am, however, am not a Wordsworth fan.

The Prelude: October 31, 2013

i was really stoked about "She was a phantom of delight" but didn't care much for most of the others.

Incredible. Prolific. Poignant.

Romantic poetry was the worst part of being an English major.

read it and make sure to also watch the movie 'Splendor In The Grass' with Natalie Wood.

I just got this book so I haven't gotten very far into it, but it's excellent so far. Then again, it's Wordsworth. If you like the Romantics, then this is for you.